We present a first analysis of parton-to-pion fragmentation functions at next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD based on single-inclusive pion production in electron-positron annihilation. Special emphasis is put on the technical details necessary to perform the QCD scale evolution and cross section calculation in Mellin moment space. We demonstrate how the description of the data and the theoretical uncertainties are improved when next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections are included.
We present new sets of fragmentation functions in next-to-leading order QCD that are determined from e+e- annihilation data of inclusive particle production. In addition to the O(alpha_s) unpolarized cross section the longitudinal cross section is also used to extract the gluon fragmentation function from e+e- annihilation data. As the O(alpha_s) vanishes for longitudinal polarized photons (or Z bosons), the O(alpha_s^2) corrections are required to reduce the scale ambiguities. Recently, P.J. Rijken and W.L. van Neerven presented the longitudinal coefficient functions to next-to-leading order. We confirm part of their results in this thesis and complete the calculation by the results for the color class C_F*T_R that must be included for a consistent comparison with LEP1 data. The complete set of coefficient functions is then used together with novel data from ALEPH to determine the fragmentation functions for charged hadrons. This set, and also sets for charged pions, kaons, and D^* mesons as well as neutral kaons published previously, can then be employed to test QCD in e+e- annihilation, photoproduction, gamma-gamma collisions, p-p_bar scattering and DIS. Finally, we suggest how the improved knowledge on the fragmentation in particular of the gluon could be used to determine the gluon and charm content of the photon.
We determine an approximate expression for the O(alpha_s^3) contribution chi_2 to the kernel of the BFKL equation, which includes all collinear and anticollinear singular contributions. This is derived using recent results on the relation between the GLAP and BFKL kernels (including running-coupling effects to all orders) and on small-x factorization schemes. We present the result in various schemes, relevant both for applications to the BFKL equation and to small-x evolution of parton distributions.
We present the first calculation at next-to-leading order (NLO) in $alpha_s$ of a fragmentation function into quarkonium whose form at leading order is a nontrivial function of $z$, namely the fragmentation function for a gluon into a spin-singlet S-wave state at leading order in the relative velocity. To calculate the real NLO corrections, we introduce a new subtraction scheme that allows the phase-space integrals to be evaluated in 4 dimensions. We extract all ultraviolet and infrared divergences in the real NLO corrections analytically by calculating the phase-space integrals of the subtraction terms in $4-2epsilon$ dimensions. We also extract the divergences in the virtual NLO corrections analytically, and detail the cancellation of all divergences after renormalization. The NLO corrections have a dramatic effect on the shape of the fragmentation function, and they significantly increase the fragmentation probability.
We report a calculation of the perturbative matching coefficients for the transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions for quark at the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD, which involves calculation of non-standard Feynman integrals with rapidity divergence. We introduce a set of generalized Integration-By-Parts equations, which allows an algorithmic evaluation of such integrals using the machinery of modern Feynman integral calculation.
Jets constructed via clustering algorithms (e.g., anti-$k_T$, soft-drop) have been proposed for many precision measurements, such as the strong coupling $alpha_s$ and the nucleon intrinsic dynamics. However, the theoretical accuracy is affected by missing QCD corrections at higher orders for the jet functions in the associated factorization theorems. Their calculation is complicated by the jet clustering procedure. In this work, we propose a method to evaluate jet functions at higher orders in QCD. The calculation involves the phase space sector decomposition with suitable soft subtractions. As a concrete example, we present the quark-jet function using the anti-$k_T$ algorithm with E-scheme recombination at next-to-next-to-leading order.